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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Hi girls, I am sorry I missed both of your calls. I will call you both as soon as I get back to Paris. I cannot wait to hear about your travels and both of you owe me stories of your girls weekend in Vegas! As for me, I am in Italy until thursday afternoon. I am pretty sure I told you I would be spending a few days with my friend Alessandra and her family at lake Como....

As you both know, if I wasn't an honorary Francaise, I would be Italiana! I am so in love with this country and thanks to Easy Jet, I am just a hop, skip and a plane ride away from so many fabulous Italian destinations!

The lovely Alessandra called me a few weeks ago and invited me to visit her and her family in Cernobbio, on the Lago di Como. During a summer abroad, Alessandra lived with my mother and stepfather and we have since become close friends. Her parents, Silvio and Giulia, are two of the most lovely people I have ever met and always make me feel like una figlia when I visit. As a (lavish!) gift, arrangements had been made for Alessandra and I to stay at the Villa d'Este as the family home was being renovated. We happen to be the youngest people in the hotel (even when I came here as a child with my family I noticed how old everyone was!), but it really is so stunningly beautiful that we are definitely not complaining!

It has been raining senza fine since I arrived, but Alessandra and I have profited from the terrible weather to catch up over espressi all afternoon and prosecco all evening. She just spent the past 2 years in Buenos Aires and she had the most fascinating stories about her time in South America. Her delightful parents came to join us for dinner tonight and hearing Giulia's incredible plans for their home have left me both jealous (my petit parisian apartment does not compare to their italian villa!) and inspired to someday have a home as beautiful and welcoming as Silvio and Giulia's! This famiglia truly is the definition of Italian warmth and charm!

It has been the most lovely holiday getaway, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that George Clooney is nowhere to be seen! Haha!